Henrik Eger: You are Philadelphia’s most prolific theater reviewers. How did you get started? 

Debra Miller: I had been writing for several different publications and online sites for many years, including out-of-town papers and websites as the Philadelphia Arts and Culture Correspondent; I still contribute to Central Voice in Harrisburg. As a child, I saw every show on Broadway and many Off-Broadway, and when I lived in London, doing research in Art History, I attended entire seasons of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, and many West End productions.

I love all the arts, and see so many inter-relationships among them, that it would be impossible for me to work exclusively in one discipline to the exclusion of all others, and I also think it’s important to bring a different perspective and background to my theater reviews.

HE: When did you begin writing for Phindie?

DM: I met Phindie founder and editor Chris Munden when we were both writing for another theater site. I liked his writing style, his well-tempered approach, and his kind and generous attitude, and I admired his mission with Phindie, as an advocate for theater and other arts in Philadelphia. He asked me if I’d like to do some posts for Phindie, and I did, and then just before the beginning of the 2013 Fringe, we teamed up to provide the most coverage of last year’s Festival. I’ve been very happy to be writing for him ever since last August-September.

HE: You contributed to Phindie‘s impressive Fringe coverage again this year. How did this year’s festival compare to the previous years?

DM: There were significantly fewer shows compared to past years—approximately 130 as opposed to more than 400 in the last few festivals—but in many ways that was better for Fringe participants. I had the impression that the individual shows had better attendance, since there wasn’t such an enormous number competing for audiences over the 2 ½-week period, and audiences and reviewers didn’t feel they were missing as many shows as they did in past years. I was very happy with my selections, both my 15 top picks in the Neighborhood Fringe theater category, and the extras I added to review from the Presented Fringe, dance, and music. I would say, based on the shows I saw, it was one of the best years ever!

HE: How do you go about writing so many reviews in such a short period of time?

DM: What works for me is to plot out my full schedule in advance, and to confirm the running times of each show with the artists, to ensure that I have enough time to get from one to the next. There were days when I had four shows scheduled to review, so it was essential that they all start and end on time! I had a few moments of panic when I received calls from the Fringe box office that a few of the performances I was ticketed to review were changed, but amazingly enough, the dates for all three worked out, and I was able to rearrange my schedule within those three dates, substituting one for another. What are the odds of that?

HE: How do you, as a person, cope with the constant adrenaline rush of not only seeing performances, but to write reviews, or edit them, or making decisions whom to ask to do what, always aware that each review represents Phindie in a critical world? 

DM: I naturally have a high energy level, and am out virtually every night to review or to judge shows. There’s an adrenaline rush of being fortunate enough to be able to do what I love. Also, I’m not a procrastinator, so when I have a review to write, I write its—though not without allowing myself enough time to give serious thought to the work under consideration. I either stay up late or get up early, or stop home between shows to get some writing done. I believe the artists and companies deserve to have the reviews posted quickly, so they can make the most of the press they get in terms of generating interest in their shows.

HE: How does that hectic, non-stop schedule impact your private life?

DM: My private life is also my professional life. I think that’s true for most of us who’ve chosen a life in art. What would I be doing if I had the time off? I would be out at the theater with my husband, or at an art exhibition, or traveling with him or leading a study abroad trip to a destination that is rich in art, culture, and history. That’s who I am and what I do, and my husband is a huge supporter of the arts as well.

When we first started dating, my family and friends from NY, after seeing works by many of the same artists in both of our houses, all asked if everyone in Philadelphia has the same art collection. Ray and I did, and that was a good indication that we share the same passions. We were a perfect match. And my cats sit with me on my lap while I’m writing my reviews, and sleep with us at night, so they still get quality time and lots of love from me, even when I’m busy.

HE: What has changed for you? Where do you see yourself going next as a writer?

DM: I will continue to approach my reviews as I always have, as an historian; to contextualize the works, to consider how the production is representative of the period being portrayed or the style of the genre or the playwright, to consider some of the underlying themes and symbolism that might not be obvious to everyone. I think that’s very useful for a general audience, who might not be as familiar with the shows as a theater professional would be. I also will continue to write scholarly articles, books, and catalogs in art history, the discipline in which I earned my Ph.D.

HE: What have you been doing since the Fringe?

DM: The 2014-15 season is in full swing, so I’ve got a new slate of shows to review for Phindie and to judge for the Barrymore Awards. I also have a little more time to work on my art and theater study abroad trip to London in January. Plus, we went away for my birthday week in October. I always make sure to allow enough time in my schedule for travel. But the first thing I did after my last Fringe review was submitted was to pop open a bottle of champagne, to celebrate with my husband!

HE: Three cheers to you and your husband; three cheers to everyone involved in local theater, whether as a performer or audience member; and three cheers to Phindie providing the most extensive coverage of drama and theater arts in Philadelphia!

"Debra Miller: An interview with Philadelphia’s most prolific theater reviewer" was published by Phindie on November 21, 2014.

Henrik Eger: Do audiences expect “their” Hamlet to reappear like the ghost of Hamlet’s father?

Dan Hodge: HAMLET is surrounded by mystique and reverence that makes it seem unassailable. It is a play approached with ingrained expectations. This production was an enormous exercise in letting go, because there is no way to please everyone. I had to create an event that felt truthful to me and to engage a room full of skilled artists.

Eger: What were your main goals directing HAMLET at the Hedgerow? 

Hodge: I was interested in clarity and drive. This production is an answer to the Macbeth I directed for Hedgerow last year, which was conceived as a thriller for their fall slot. I aimed to create a HAMLET that was as brisk, arresting, and engaging as the Scottish Play.

Eger: As an actor-director, what shaped your decision-making processes?

Hodge: I am always interested in actors who readily have access to deep humanity. In that way, Jared Reed, a seasoned and thoughtful actor, is an excellent fit for Hamlet. This Hamlet could not be a confused twenty-something, but an adult robbed of his faculties by an older generation. It’s captivating to see adults with clear ideas of their lives, suddenly losing all mooring by circumstances ordinarily within their control.
​
I wanted to situate the play beyond a doublet-and-hose time period, so audiences could spend their time watching people with whom they can identify, rather than giggling up their sleeves at the funny clothes. Framing HAMLET in an Edwardian setting clarified the aesthetic of the production and the roles each character assumed.

Eger: Could you give some examples of how you altered or enriched HAMLET?

Hodge: When I interpolate text from other Shakespearean plays, it is frequently for keeping characters engaged in recognizable relationships while smoothing over major cuts. To streamline the text of Hamlet, I removed whole scenes, which occasionally left me with the dilemma of having the same characters together [on stage at the same time], causing a substantial shift in relationships. Late in the play, after the scene at Ophelia’s grave, a similar interaction occurs between Hamlet and Horatio. There was a major tonal shift, and I borrowed lines from Othello, and cribbed some of King Lear to create a transition that remained true for each of the characters.
​
The largest addition occurs for Claudius in the scene after Hamlet drags Polonius’ body from his mother’s chamber, and Claudius dispatches Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find him. There, I excised a series of short scenes. This meant that as soon as Claudius sent them out, I needed them to return with Hamlet. To make this jump in time, I added a speech for Claudius. There is a wonderful piece in Measure for Measurewhere the Duke meditates on the value of life in the midst of hardship. Adding this speech as a soliloquy gives us a peek into the life of this murderous king, and gives [actor] John Lopes something to enrich his character’s journey.

Eger: Usually, Ophelia is portrayed as an innocent, naive adolescent. You chose an older actress, Annette Kaplafka, who struck me as more mature and stronger than any Ophelia I had ever seen. 

Hodge: It is important that Ophelia mirrors Hamlet. Since our Hamlet is undeniably 40, it compelled me to find someone who could stand as his equal. I am unconvinced by the traditional portrayal of Ophelia as a “wilting flower.” In this production, initially, she is a person with great confidence and self-possession, which is stripped from her over the course of the play. Watching someone lose everything, when she begins with so much, provides a stronger springboard into the madness that follows.

Eger: You chose Jennifer Summerfield to play a female Horatio, usually one of Hamlet’s closest male friends, leading to some interesting male-female interactions.

Hodge: Jennifer is an actor that I go out of my way to work with. I knew her keen insight, as well as her chemistry with Jared, would yield great dividends. The relationship between Hamlet and Horatio is one fraught with complications—if one chooses to explore them. Horatio is an intellectual equal to Hamlet. She is the only person in whom he can fully confide. She is also an outsider at the Royal Court, so making her an educated, unmarried woman in this time period heightens her “other-ness.” It’s intriguing to see Hamlet die in her arms. She feels like another great, unfulfilled love in his life.

Eger: I wonder what Shakespeare would have said about your creative casting and borrowing lines from some of his other plays? Could it have been: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”? Thank you, Dan Hodge. 

This interview was originally published by Phindie on November 19, 2014. 

Henrik Eger: Many people might associate a kibbutz with down-to-earth settlers who worked in the fields decades ago—a far cry from Kibbutz Ga’aton which has become a modern “Dance Village.” Tell us more about the impact communal living and training has on the professional and personal development of the Kibbutz dancers, compared to city dancers in Tel Aviv.

Rami Be’er: The green hills and nature of the Galilee [where KCDC is located] provide us with a different atmosphere than an urban environment. The International Dance Village in Kibbutz Ga’aton is a campus, meeting-point, which creates a closeness with all the dancers in our community. Our campus includes dancers from our main company, second company, members of our international 5-month and 10-month Dance Journey Study Abroad Program, and other year-round programs where dancers from our main company teach my repertoire to our various programs.

Eger: According to The Jerusalem Post, “The Galilee Dance Village at Ga’aton aspires to bring the Western Galilee’s mixed population together, promoting coexistence.” Could you give some practical examples? How many of your dancers are Israeli, and how many came from other countries? Are there any Palestinian or Arabic-Israeli dancers in your ensemble? 
​
Be’er: I believe that human beings are human beings in every place. I believe in equal opportunity and in living together—side by side. All people inherently have their own rights. In the International Village we follow the same ethos.
In our vicinity, there are many Arabic villages. Our activities include outreach to their communities. Students and dancers from our company are active in their Arabic dance communities. Two-thirds of our company members are Israeli and the other third come from abroad. At the moment, we have dancers who are from Portugal, Ukraine, Russia, the United States, Denmark, and South Korea. In the past, I’ve had Arabic dancers, but not at the moment, but this is something that changes from season to season. In dance, I do not choose dancers according to their backgrounds, but based on professional standards.

​The Philadelphia chapter of “Students for Justice in Palestine” quoted a document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, featured in Israel’s progressive newspaper, Ha’aretz: “As part of ‘Brand Israel,’ [KCDC] has to sign a contract stating that: ‘The service provider [in this case, the Dance Company] is aware that the purpose [. . .] is to promote the policy interests of the state of Israel via culture and art, including contributing to creating a positive image for Israel.” The protesters concluded, “As such, we view this dance company as an extension of Israeli governmental policy, which sets them apart from a dance company simply based in Israel.” How do you respond?

Be’er:  Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company is a cultural entity that is built from different individuals. Each individual has his or her own opinion as a free human being. We, as a performance group, do not have an opinion about political issues nor other issues. We present our art. We live in the State of Israel and we create in the State of Israel. However, in our artistic process, we don’t wake up in the morning, enter the studio, and ask ourselves, “How do we present or represent the State of Israel?”  This isn’t the basis for our artistic creation.

Eger: Yoni Avital, your international director, has denied that the KCDC has signed any such contract with the government: “We do not have any such agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Israeli government where we are required to show or represent a certain image for the State of Israel. No such document exists.”
​
Be’er: As an individual, I have my own very clear opinions regarding the occupation. I am against the occupation. I am for compromise and for a two-state solution for two people. Of course with security measures for both sides and all involved. I would like to say that the State of Israel is a democratic one and the artists here do not experience any pressure from the government regarding how to create and what to create. I’m a free man, and I can create what I feel and think.

Eger: Henia Rottenberg, a researcher from the UK, called you a “Political Choreographer”—“one of the first artists to touch the core of Israeli society, [being] courageous enough to meet a controversial and sensitive issue.” 

Be’er: For me, dance, music, visuals, and what we create on stage are ways to create bridges of communication among people of different backgrounds, cultures, languages, and religions. Not that I’m naive in believing that a single piece or performance can change the political and social issues of our time, but our performances may be modest contributions toward creating a better world.

Eger: Steve Sucato, a Cleveland dance critic, described what he considered “perhaps the most moving scenes in the intense work [which] involved the dancers performing to sounds of gunfire, explosions and people screaming, conjuring up images of the military conflicts plaguing the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.” 
In your performances, audiences might sense that you are carrying the spirit of Yehudit Arnon, the dancer at Auschwitz, into our time, marred by the deadly Israeli-Palestinian conflict—perhaps inviting us to work toward solutions for a better tomorrow for all.

A sheyner dank*, Rami Be’er. Toda raba,** Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. Shalom and Salam.*** [Annenberg Center] November 13-15, 2014; kcdc.co.il. For a full performance schedule, visit kcdc.co.il/en/performanceschedule.html.

*Yiddish, literally: A beautiful thank you.
**Hebrew: Many thanks.
*** Hebrew and Arabic: Peace.

This interview was originally published by Phindie on November 19, 2014. 

“More than a clearinghouse for theater reviews!”

Phindie, one of the youngest, yet most prolific arts and theater arts publications in Philadelphia, was created in March 2013 by Chris Munden, originally from England—another European immigrant who enriched the theatre arts world in one of America’s largest cities. He published more reviews of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, now Fringe Arts, than any other publication in the area. He also edited a series of books called Philly Fiction--short stories written by Philadelphia writers. A bright man in his 30s who works consistently and quietly, he is reaching an increasingly expanding audience through his Phindie.

Henrik: What inspired you to start Phindie?

Chris: I saw a shrinking of arts coverage in the city—especially that of independent theater. My immediate impetus was twofold: I wanted to write short 200-word (“60-second”) reviews and had no home for these, I wanted more editorial control over my writing and what I covered.

So I imported all my old theater writings, plus some articles by friends from other defunct sites. Right off the bat, I wanted [Phindie] to be seen as a serious arts publication with an extensive archive of articles.

Henrik: What response did you get from the theater community when you started?

Chris: I didn’t announce Phindie with any fanfare. I just started to post my own reviews on it, and the first one I wrote specifically for the new site was used by a theater in a promotional email: a pull-quote with the Phindie byline. Within a week or so, companies were writing to ask for coverage, and the site very quickly had 50 visits or so a day. 

Henrik: Fantastic. What did you do to put Phindie firmly on the map? 

Chris: I invited local critics to vote for their favorite publications, which attracted a lot of interest in a year without the Barrymore awards, and I decided to cover as many theater shows as possible in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. 

I almost abandoned that project, because I watched a close friend and roommate die of a heroin overdose a few weeks before the 2013 Fest began. But I transferred my grief into energy and recruited a number of writers and this (at the time) one-person operation beat every other publication in terms of Fringe coverage—which is cool, but kinda embarrassing, too.

Henrik:  Right on. How did this year’s festival compare to the Fringe’s previous years?

Chris: I miss those years in the early 2000s when I worked in Old City and could see a bunch of weird shows in a few block radius at coffee shops and parks and then go see a great band at the Fringe bar, but I like what the festival has become. Nowadays, it’s so big that it’s really hard to compare festivals, as you only see a snapshot of the shows, but it’s interesting to try to pick out themes—from nudity to the Internet. Every few years at least twelve E.A. Poe shows crop up. I’m not sure I discovered any such theme this year. 

Henrik: Which three Fringe events had the greatest influence on you this summer?

Chris: The best show, for me, was PAC’s Rape of Lucrece. Dan Hodge made this 400-year-old Shakespeare poem incredibly accessible and moving. Around the same time, I saw a modern show about domestic violence, I Am Arethusa, and the pairing got me thinking about the individual perspectives of this age-old story. 

Writing about the ballet Things I Learned in Outer Space was my first real attempt to review a dance piece. I’m a big fan of dance and contemporary movement arts, but I feel unqualified to write about them. I wrote the piece with the acknowledgment that I was not a student of the art, and, to my surprise, it got a good response.

Henrik: What is your process for soliciting and selecting the most qualified theatre reviewers for specific shows—aware that each article represents Phindie in a critical world? 

Chris: Ha! A lot of it is just people reaching out to me and asking to write. I ask writers to select the shows they want to see, and assign based on preferences. For the Fringe, I had to do some added recruitment. I asked other editors, and I talked to friends and acquaintances who I thought would be suitable. This year, I asked Toby Zinman, a reviewer for the Philadelphia Inquirer who also teaches at the University of the Arts, to refer some young writers, and she gave me some of the festival’s best reviewers. Thanks, Toby! 

More recently, I asked Neal Zoren, a prolific theater reviewer who attends a lot of productions around the larger region, whether I could excerpt some of the reviews he posts on his site NealsPaper. He, too, agreed. Thanks, Neal!

Chris: Well, Phindie is just one of the things I do, and it doesn’t pay my bills. I give a few hours most days to Phindie, but at times it does get overwhelming. My “profession” is copywriter and marketing manager, with some freelance editing thrown in. 

I also spend a lot of time on activities for a non-profit, Kensington Soccer Club, which organizes teams and leagues for youth in North Philadelphia and around the city. I’m on the board, coach four days a week, and manage the other coaches. 
 
Henrik: How have you changed and grown as a publisher, editor, and writer post-Fringe?

Chris: I’m not sure I have. I have some ideas for the site after the festival. Phindie’s theater editor resigned recently, so I’ve taken on more of the day to day operation of the site again, and I’m focused on that.

Henrik: Now that the dramatic, creative Fringe “orgy” has come to an end, what plans do you have before the next festival takes up all your energy? 

Chris: I want to continue to be a prime source for theater coverage in the city and to attract more readers to the site. There are things I’d like to do: add more sections on other arts and increase feature article coverage. I’d like Phindie to be more than just a clearinghouse for theater reviews. 

For example, the FringeArts management and Phindie already worked together to present two awesome theatre arts bike tours this year. For the next Fringe festival, I’d like to talk to FringeArts about even more collaboration and promotion through our Phindie’s festival coverage.  If Phindie continues the way it is now until next year, I’ll be content, but if we get huge and buy out the Inquirer, that would be okay, too. [He grins.] 

Henrik: Right on! Seriously, is there anything else you would like to add? 

Chris: To readers everywhere--e-mail me and let me know what you’d like to see, what you like about the site, and what you don’t. 

Henrik: Great. I'm sure you will attract even more theater artists, writers, and readers to support Phindie's work. As a result, more Philadelphians may attend some of the extraordinary performances in our area--despite America's tough economic times. 

Chris: Thanks, Henrik!


If you liked this interview with Chris Munden and want to learn more about Phindie, take a look at these earlier interviews: "Phindie’s in Town: New Website Covers Philadelphia Independent Theater" by Said Johnson, and "Phindie, one year later: Interview with editor Christopher Munden" by Josh McIlvain.

This interview with Chris Munden, Phindie  publisher and editor, was published by Drama Around The Globe on November 18, 2014.